By Def Leppard, 2006

On their highly anticipated new album, Def Leppard have created a heartfelt and hard rocking tribute to their musical heroes of the late 60's and 70's - the Kinks, Badfinger, T. Rex, David Bowie, Sweet, Roxy Music, Mott the Hoople, Free, Faces, and Thin Lizzy. Recording essential versions of the music that influenced their youth, the band have brilliantly merged the 'Now with the 'Then' to create a buzz that can only be summed up in one word: YEAH!While most of their teen peers were embracing nascent '70s U.K. punk with all the snotty 'tude they could muster, Sheffield's Def Leppard instead infused then-moribund metal with bracing pop smarts.

Having long since sold a gazillion or two records with that formula, the '80s superstars pay homage to the eclectic, chart-savvy tastes that spawned it on this collection of covers, recharging their contemporary fortunes a bit in the bargain. Their takes on Me Decade standards like The Faces' "Stay With Me," Badfinger's "No Matter What," and T Rex's "20th Century Boy" may be arguably too faithful, right down to Joe Elliot's often dead-on vocal chameleon routine. But elsewhere they perform some admirable pop archaeology, imparting a darker edge to David Essex's spooky "Rock On" and pumping Blondie's "Hanging on the Telephone," one-hit-wonder John Kongos's riff-fest "He's Gonna Step On You Again," and Sweet's "Hell Raiser" full of patent Lep energy.

--Jerry McCulley

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